Council 2013-2014

The following early career researchers served on the 2013-2014 Council. In addition, the members of the APECS Executive Committee 2013-2014 are also part of the Council: Christie Logvinova, Frigga Kruse, Russell Fielding, Jean Sébastien Moore, Iglika Trifonova as well as Jennifer Provencher (ex-offio), Penelope Wagner (ex-officio) and Yulia Zaika (ex-officio)

We would also like to recognize our past leaders as they continue to serve our organization as Ex-Officio members of the Council: Tosca Ballerini, Francisco Fernandoy, Silje-Kristin Jensen, Kim Jochum, Aexey Pavlov, Allen Pope, Angelika Renner and Mariëtte Wheeler.

• Michael Laiho - Finland - APECS Council Co-Chair 2013-2014

  University of Lapland
  Michael John Laiho is half British, half Finnish. Between 2009-10 he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, and obtained an MSc. in European Studies: Ideas and Identities at the European Institute. After graduating in London he moved to Turku, Finland, to complete his military conscription service and in 2011 he started a Doctoral programme at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi. The primary focus of his Doctoral thesis is the relevance of Arctic governance for the European Union's energy policy. As well as a Doctoral student he is an associate researcher of the Sustainable Development research group at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland; a member of POLITU (Finnish Graduate School of Political Scientists); an APECS Council member; and is currently an intern at the Stefansson Arctic Institute, Akureyri, where he now (2013) assists with editing several reports including ASI and AHDR II.

• Heather Mariash - Canada - APECS Council Co-Chair 2013-2014

  McGill University
  I am interested in the ecological consequences of ice cover to freshwater ecosystems. The acute seasonality between the extended dark winters and short cold summers with 24 hrs of day light, have distinct constraints to food availability and consumer survival. My research focuses on the aquatic ecosystems of the arctic and subarctic studying the dietary strategies used by zooplankton to cope with these harsh environments. Starting September 2013 as a W. Garfield Weston Postdoctoral Fellow, working in Northern Canada.

• Cristian Aldea - Chile

  University of Magallanes
  I'm Cristian Aldea, from Chile. I studied Marine Biology at the University of Concepción, where I also did a Diploma in Environmental Analysis and Management. Then, motivated by my scientific vocation to discover the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabeds, did my PhD at the University of Vigo (Spain). My doctoral thesis consisted of a comprehensive systematic and ecological analysis of the molluscs from the West Antarctica, emphasizing bathymetric patterns and spatial distribution. From this research I have published eight scientific articles, including macroecological information and description of new species of Antarctic molluscs. In parallel I have published on the ecology and taxonomy of the adjacent sub-Antarctic communities and deep sea. I have also written and edited three books on Magellanic seabeds and Antarctic molluscs. Currently I continue developing my research in the Programme GAIA-Antártica (University of Magallanes), which involves discovering, and explaining the distribution patterns of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabeds associated with processes such as sea ice and glaciers cycles, sediment quality and the adjacent water column. These processes could explain climate variations in the medium and long term. These studies are performed by means of diverse groups such as molluscs, crustaceans and polychaetes, in collaboration with research partners.

• Elaine Alves dos Santos - Brazil

  University of State of Rio de Janeiro
  I´m a PhD candidate in Biosciences at the University of State of Rio de Janeiro (PPGB/UERJ). I have worked with Antarctic atmospheric samples since 2002 and I went to Antarctica on seven expeditions with the Brazilian Antarctic Program. I completed my Master´s degree in Biosciences in 2009 - "Influence of Solar irradiance in the ocean primary productivity and association with CO2". In the next year (2010) I started my PhD project: "Chemical, optical and isotopic characterization of aerosols from the South Atlantic Ocean and Southern Ocean". Is scheduled for thesis defense in December 2013. I collected aerosol samples from Rio de Janeiro to Antartica and hope to make this a great argument about it and generate results that can contribute to the Global Climate Change. In addition I work with iron limitation hypothesis, so this characterization will increase knowledge about the atmospheric contribution from the semi desert of Patagonia. Additionally I´m from APECS Brasil council member since 2010.

• Sarah Bartholow - United States

  Arctic Research Consortium of the United States
  Sarah Crowley currently works as an education project manager for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States in Fairbanks, AK. She manages PolarTREC, a teacher-researcher experience program via a grant from the National Science Foundation. With partners such as UA-Fairbanks, Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service, Sarah develops and implements teacher trainings on climate change and polar science for online platforms and in-­field experiences. Most recently she has worked tirelessly with partners such as APECS to build Polar Educators International; a professional network for those who educate in, for, and about the polar regions. Through her years teaching environmental education, Sarah developed a passion for polar science and facilitating meaningful nature/science education experiences for her students and other teachers. Her undergraduate work earned her a BA in Geography in 2004, with a minor in Global Studies. In 2010 she received her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction for Science Education and a Graduate Certificate in Education, Environment, and Community from the University of Washington-Seattle.

• Roxanne Beltran - United States

  University of Alaska
  When I moved North to Alaska to start my graduate work, I was astonished by the sense of community among polar researchers. The marine mammal research field is notorious for failing to connect with other fields, which leads to my desire to become more connected to the polar community. I believe that my interests and knowledge would be extremely complimentary to the fantastic activities already being organized by APECS. My reasearch looks at the demographic influences of dynamic environments on the behavior, physiology and foraging ecology of high trophic level marine mammals. For my Masters thesis, I will construct a standardized bioenergetics model to estimate baseline energy requirements as a function of reproductive state for several seal species.

• Vincent Carrier - Canada and Norway

  Laval University / University Centre in Svalbard
  Vincent have completed his bachelor in Biology and Ecology at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières UQTR (Canada), including a year in Arctic Biology at the University Centre in Svalbard UNIS (Norway). Since September 2013, he started a Master in Biology at Laval University (Canada). His master project, in cooperation with University Centre in Svalbard, is related to the biogeography of pico- and nanoeukaryotes in different water columns around Svalbard. He has been participating in a youth expedition in the Antarctic in 2009 and have travel in Canada, USA, Italy, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, UK , Argentina and Norway. Through internships or jobs, he has been involved in the Mingan Islands Ceteacean Study (Canada) as a research assistant and responsible for whale photo-identification and also the Norwegian Polar Institute as fieldwork assistant for reindeer counting on Svalbard. He is also involved as a field assistant at UNIS to collect water samples in a fjord all year round. He aspires to work in environmental management/impact assessment and contribute to the decision-making related to Polar Regions. He has a strong passion for outdoor activities and swimming, which brought him to be coaching the Elite swimming team of Svalbard, the northernmost swimming team active in competitions.

• Eleanor Darlington - United Kingdom

  Loughborough University
  Ten years ago a family friend showed a slide show of him working at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. I was hooked! I organised my high school work experience at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge; a week of metrological observations, ice cores and the desire to travel had me fixed on a career in science. My Masters thesis was observing the interactions between the inflow of Atlantic Water into the Barents Sea, and how this was impacting sea ice formation. This project led to the UK Arctic Sciences conference, a UKPN workshop and networking day, and a Southern Ocean research cruise! From there a Fram Strait cruise with the Norwegian Polar Institute and at present, an internship with Education Through Expeditions working on the AMT20 project, bringing real science into the classroom from the middle of the Atlantic.

• Archana Dayal - India

  The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
  My name is Archana Dayal. I am a woman scientist-in-the-making (!), aged 23 and a citizen of India. I have a Master's in 'Climate Science & Policy' from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University, New Delhi and Bachelors in 'Biological Sciences' from the University of Delhi. During my third semester at TERI, I joined an expedition to Kolahoi glacier in the Western Himalayas (in Kashmir) to study the geomorphological features of glaciers during my course work on 'Glacier Hydrology'. I spent the summer of 2012 at the Ice Core Laboratory of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR - India's nodal centre for polar research), Goa as an intern working on a minor project titled 'Analysis and Quantification of Dust in Antarctic Snow: A Case Study from Princess Elizabeth Land and Dronning Maud Land'. Later at the same centre, I completed my Master's thesis titled 'Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Total Organic Carbon in Snow from Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica'. I have been selected as a student participant for the XXXIII Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (starting Dec 2013 to Mar 2014) where I intend to work on 'Biogeochemical Studies of Blue-Ice in Coastal East Antarctica'. I will work at the Indian station, Bharati located in the Larsemann Hills area.

• Pedro Echeveste - Spain

  University of the Balearic Islands
  Pedro finished his BSc in Biology at the University of Navarra and moved to Madrid to develop a MSc in Climatic Risks and Environmental Impact. After this period, he moved to Finland to study the effects of Climate Change in Finnish forests, and returned to Spain after five months to develop his PhD on the effects of legacy contaminants (POPs and trace metals) on marine phytoplankton. Originally interested in near shore waters including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, during his PhD he had the chance to discover the Arctic and the Southern Oceans, becoming fascinated about these environments and improving his studies in those remote areas. With his PhD recently achieved, Pedro is interested in the role that contaminants play in polar ecosystems, how they affect the biogeochemical cycles occurring in these ecosystems, how they disturb species interactions (predation, competition, etc.) and, in summary, in the effects that anthropogenic pollutants will have to polar biota in a changing world.

• Francyne Elias-Piera - Spain

  Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
  I have a degree in Biological Sciences from University Mackenzie (Brazil-2000) and have worked in the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) with Antarctic Macro fauna since then. I have taken courses in Molecular Biology and Taxonomy of Antarctic peracarids and developed a Masters in Biological Oceanography in the University of São Paulo (Brazil-2005): "Phytal macro fauna of five algal species of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica) with emphasis on the group amphipoda (crustacea, Peracarida)". In 2003, I participated in a campaign to Antarctica with a project of Environmental Monitoring of Admiralty Bay (PROANTAR), working with stable isotopes to determine trophic relationships of various coastal organisms. During eight years I taught in Elementary and Secondary Schools (Science, Biology and Chemistry), always exploring Antarctica and environmental education topics, giving talks at public and private schools. Now, I am a PhD student at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain-since 2010) – "Bentho-pelagic coupling biomarkers in Antarctica: space-time comparison at Weddell Sea", working with different biomarkers (Stable isotope, biochemical balance and fatty acids) and interested in how climate change affects this interaction. My PhD fellowship is of Ciência sem Fronteiras - CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development / Brazil). I am APECS-Spain vice-secretary and participating member of APECS-Brazil. I was one of the leading coordinators of the APECS workshop at SCAR Biology conference (Barcelona 2013) and in numerous educational activities at APECS Brazil, including POLAR WEEKS (with APECS International and APECS Portugal) and the first Polar meeting in the Amazon.

• Ellyn Enderlin - United States

  University of Maine Climate Change Institute
  I received by B.S. in Environmental Science from Lehigh University in 2008, my M.S. in Geological Science from Ohio State University in 2010, and my PhD from Ohio State University earlier this summer. To date, my research has focused on developing a better understanding of marine-terminating outlet glacier dynamics using both remote sensing and numerical modeling techniques. My research has focused primarily on Greenland outlet glaciers but the results of my numerical modeling studies are applicable to glaciers in different geographic settings as well. I hope to expand on my remote sensing expertise and develop additional skills during my postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maine starting in August. My postdoctoral research will focus on ice-ocean interactions at Helheim Glacier, East Greenland through a collaborative project with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

• Laura Ferguson - United Kingdom

  Hariot-Watt University, Scotland
  I began my career in media and communications. I studied at the University of Paisley (now UWS), specialising in documentary filmmaking in my later years. I graduated top of my class, obtaining 1st class honours and being awarded the Court Medal for achievement. During these years I also studied part-time with the Open University for a humanities degree in philosophy and literature. I had two media job roles, working as a journalist and as a publishing assistant, before completing a PhD in media, and also a Postgraduate Certificate in film journalism, both at the University of Glasgow. I have a specific interest in Arctic hydrology and Arctic water engineering, and in July/August 2013 successfully completed the ARTEK/DTU Arctic Engineering Field Course in Greenland. I will follow this by attending a Masters-level course at UNIS on Svalbard this February.

• Laura Fleming-Sharp - United States

  Arctic Studies Center
  Originally from Ontario, Canada, I am now living in Washington, DC, where I am the Research/Program Assistant at the Arctic Studies Center, Anthropology Department at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Prior to moving to the United States, I completed my B.A in International Development Studies and Geography (2005) and my M.A. in Geography (2009) both at the University of Guelph, Ontario. My graduate research focused on adaptation and the role of formal and informal institutions (local norms, customs, traditional knowledge) in facilitating adaptation to climate and other changes in the Inuit community of Hopedale, Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador, Canada. My research contributed to the 2007-2009 International Polar Year Community Adaptation and Vulnerability in the Arctic Regions (CAVIAR) project, and was part of the ArcticNet Phase I Project 4.2, and Phase II Project 1.1. Following my graduate program, I held the position of Research Associate at the Global Environmental Change Group in the Geography Department at the University of Guelph where I provided support to the IPY CAVIAR and ArcticNet programs. In 2011 I joined the Arctic Studies Center and in 2012 was the 18th Inuit Studies Conference Coordinator and later transitioned to Research/Program Assistant where I now support the Arctic Studies Center and staff. Currently, I am the Main Project Coordinator for the APECS Norden research project "Bridging Early Career Researchers and Indigenous Peoples in Nordic Countries".

• Ruth Hindshaw - United Kingdom

  University of St. Andrews
  My research aims to understand biogeochemical processes in polar environments with the main focus on constraining how chemical weathering is affected by glaciation. The chemical weathering of silicate rocks is a key feedback mechanism for the stabilisation of Earth's climate by regulating the carbon cycle. I work with isotope tracers (Ca, Sr, Li) in stream water, together with the analysis of rock samples and laboratory experiments. I completed my PhD in isotope geochemistry at ETH Zurich in 2011. This was part of BigLink, a large inter-disciplinary project at Damma Glacier, Switzerland, which aimed to quantify the effects of recent de-glaciation on soil and ecosystem development. Afterwards, I moved northwards for a one year post-doctoral position at the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU). I am working on a fieldsite in Svalbard which is comprised of two catchments: one is glaciated and the other is dominated by permafrost. This will allow me to quantify differences in weathering processes between glaciated and non-glaciated terrain. As of September 2013 I will be a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland where I will continue the analysis of the field samples which I have collected from Svalbard.In my spare time I'm usually outdoors: walking, skiing, cycling, climbing or running.

• Patricia Johnston - Canada

  University of British Columbia
  Patricia Johnston is holding both front line experience as a social worker, and having worked as a program and policy specialist, Patricia has provided direct consultation to two provincial and two territorial governments in Canada. Working throughout Canada's Arctic has helped Patricia to develop a thorough understanding of the social, economic and cultural realities confronting Inuit families. Patricia is now furthering her interests in social policy by pursuing a PhD at UBC's School of Social Work. Patricia's current research will enable her to apply her intimate understanding of the complexities and realities of northern life as it focuses on child welfare policy (child protection) within the Inuit communities in Nunavut. As someone who has delivered child welfare services and is prepared to critically examine that delivery, her positioning gives her unique insight for approaching this specific topic through the use of post-colonial theory and participatory action research. By exploring how Inuit culture can be incorporated into child welfare in Nunavut, Patricia's doctoral research stands to potentially generate transferable knowledge critical to discussing child welfare policy and practices within other Indigenous communities.

• Laura Kelvin - Canada

  Western University, Ontario
  I am a PhD student at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. My research uses an archaeological ethnographic approach to explore how perceptions of the past and archaeological research vary within the Inuvialuit community of Sachs Harbour, NWT, to determine how archaeology can best complement Inuvialuit understandings of the past. This research is part of Dr. Lisa Hodgetts' Ikaahuk Archaeology Project on Banks Island, NWT. I completed my BA in Anthropology, minor First Nations Studies at Western University in 2009 and my MA in Archaeology at Memorial University in Newfoundland in 2011. My MA research combined oral history and archaeological evidence to compose an ethnohistory of the Inuit-Metis in Sandwich Bay, Labrador. My research interests include Indigenous knowledge, researcher-community relationships, archaeology, the history of archaeological research in the North, and intellectual property rights. When I am not studying I enjoy amateur astronomy, beading, hiking, and drawing. I am also a program coordinator for the Public Humanities@Western, a member of the Committee for Women in Anthropology, and a volunteer at the McIntosh Art Gallery.

• Alia Khan - United States

  University of Colorado
  A native of the Tarheel state, I completed my BS in Public Health in the US at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, School of Public Health. My research interests began in detecting fecal contamination in rural drinking water in developing countries. After travelling in the high mountains in the Himalayas between field work in South Asia, I discovered a love and passion for cold environment field work. In May 2010 I began my MS at the University of Colorado – Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Studies. During that time I completed a UNIS field course on 'Fate and Modeling of Pollutants in the Arctic, and was also a member of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Long Term Ecological Research Site (LTER), 'Stream Team'. The Stream Team is tasked with measuring discharge of ephemeral glacier fed streams in the Dry Valleys which flow 6-10 weeks per year, as well as collect water samples for chemical and biological analysis. We spent almost four months camping in the dry valleys and hiking to and from the stream sites. I am now in the first semester of my PhD, also at CU-Boulder. My dissertation specific research interests are in local and long range transport of contaminants and pollutants, and impacts on water quality and the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, I am interested in climate impacts on water quality in polar and alpine areas. I am also very interested in the social and human impacts of climate change and have worked with the Stockholm Environmental Institute Oxford, UK, and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo. Like many researchers in the polar sciences, I love the great outdoors! I'm an avid snowboarder, hiker, backpacker, and also enjoy rock and ice climbing.

• Minkyoung Kim - POSTECH, Korea

  I have my BSc in the Earth Science Education from Chonnam National University in Korea. During my undergraduate days, I experienced various works. I worked as a student-teacher at middle school in Korea and did an internship as a teacher at Kingston Heath Primary School, in Melbourne, Australia. Also, I joined in field trips with professors of my department, for 3 years, two times of geology and one oceanography field. I was interested in paleoclimatology, geology and oceanography. At the end, I decided to study oceanography. I am now studying ocean chemistry in Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea. It is my 5th semester as an integrated course student. My target area is the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica and East/Japan Sea. I am also interested in Canada Basin, too. My main technique is a radiocarbon analysis from a bulk size samples. I am focusing on the different sources of sinking Particulate Organic Carbon. To start the experiment my adviser and I made two vacuum manifolds. Additionally I learned how to use gas chromatography to analyze alkenone. I participated in several cruises. Especially, I joined in the Amundsen Cruise two years ago. This winter, I will go to the Amundsen Sea again.

• Maja Lisowska - Jagiellonian University, Poland

  I work as a research assistant at Dept. of Polar Research and Documentation, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Poland. Since 2009 I have been a member of APECS Poland.I completed my Master's degree in biology at the Jagiellonian University, in 2007, working on lichen biomonitoring. My polar experience started in 2007, when, as a fresh PhD student, I became involved in a project on environmental changes in Sørkapp Land, Svalbard and got an opportunity to do research in the High Arctic. I was a part of a botanical team which conducted comparative tundra vegetation mapping. In 2009 I attended the Arctic Plant Ecology course at the University Centre in Svalbard. My PhD project, completed in 2011, was focused on vegetation succession - including vascular plants, mosses and lichens - on two glacier forelands in Central and Southern Svalbard. My research interests cover several lichen- and polar-connected issues: lichen biogeography, ecology and taxonomy; colonization and succession in glacier forelands; Arctic tundra vegetation changes; lichen adaptations to extreme environments; biomonitoring using lichens.

• Silvia Lourenco - Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

  I am a Marine Biologist with a MSc in ecology, management and modeling of marine resources by the University Nova de Lisboa. I am a PhD Student in the Oceanography Centre of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where I'm studying the effect of environmental factors in the life cycle of octopus. My research interests are mainly fish and cephalopods marine ecology studies, particularly the ones dedicated to growth, trophic ecology and population dynamics.Since 2009 I've been working in the Polar Project under José Xavier coordination (IMAR University of Coimbra) in collaboration with Martin Collins, John Watkins (British Antarctic Survey), Carlos Assis (University of Lisbon) and Yves Cherel (CEBC-CNRS, France). My work field is mainly dedicated to fish and cephalopods ecology, growth and population dynamics studies.I am a member of the APECS Portugal executive committee and member of the APECS council since October 2010. Under APECS I also collaborate in the Funding Resources working group.

• Sanna Majaneva - University of Helsinki; Finnish Environment Institute and University Centre in Svalbard - Finland / Norway

  My name is Sanna Majaneva, and I come from a small city called Imatra in the eastern border of Finland. Later on I moved to Helsinki to study Marine Biology and Geography at the University. After four years of basic studies in the "warm" coast of the brackish "sea", I needed the real sea, the real snow, and proper winter. I was accepted to write my Master's thesis on Arctic copepods at the University Centre in Svalbard. My planned half a year long Svalbard visit prolonged into several years, because I worked both as a nature guide and as a research assistant, but mainly for the reason that I fell in love with the white silence. My stay at Svalbard left a spark towards polar research and I somehow drifted to make doctoral thesis project in collaboration with the University Centre in Svalbard and the Finnish Environment Institute / Marine Research Centre. The main objective of my doctoral thesis is to gain information on ctenophore populations in the Northern Seas. The project studies the role and importance of ctenophores in the food webs and how different aspects of the changing climate could affect these communities. On my free time, I'm mostly in the out in the nature with a back bag and hiking boots, skies, kayak or dog sledge. The more I learn about this white nature, the more amazed I am, and therefore the Arctic issues have become extremely dear to me.

• Adam Naito - Texas A&M University, USA

  I am a fifth-year PhD candidate in Geography at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. Broadly, my research interests are in the domains of biogeography, landscape ecology, ecological modeling, and environmental science applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing. My dissertation work focuses on furthering scientific understanding of the historic dynamics of Alaskan Arctic shrub expansion and its landscape-scale processes through: 1) quantifying the historic spatial patterns of shrub expansion using historical aerial photography and current satellite imagery; 2) developing a simulation model to understand how landscape-scale environmental characteristics influence shrub development; and 3) conducting scientific outreach via public presentations to primarily Alaskan Native communities in northern Alaska. I also received a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant to expand this work to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. I teach courses in introductory GIS and physical geography at Texas A&M University. Prior to my doctoral work, I pursued BS and MS degrees in Geography at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States. I also interned in the Maps Division of the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC.
  In my spare time, I enjoy running, hiking, cycling, and playing the guitar.

• Karolina Paquin - University of Tromsø, Norway

  Karolina Paquin is currently completing her Master of Science at the University of Tromsø, working on the long term repercussions of intensified goose grazing and climate change on Svalbard plants. She aspires to build a career as a leading scientist and international representative of the Polar Sciences. The passion for the Poles took flight during a year studying the science, politics and people of the Arctic at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland. Her alternative interests are diverse to say the least, and include learning everything from cooking to music. Her passion for the outdoors makes it nearly impossible to refuse any hike or ski trip.

• Hugo Romero - Chile

  My name is Hugo Romero; I am a Cultural Geographer from the South of Chile. Currently, I am finishing a PhD in Human Geography in the University of Manchester, one of the most vibrant places to study geography in the world because of the academics, colleagues and the fact that it is one of the first landscapes fully created by humans since the years of the Industrial Revolution. My research is about how territories have been culturally constructed and materially transformed. My case study is Patagonia, a historical and cultural landscape located in South America, which was part of the expansion of the European imperial powers, especially Spain and Britain. At the end of the 19th century, the landscape of the Chilean Patagonia was fully fabricated for the production of cattle by British companies supported by the Chilean government. Therefore, a British rural landscape was created, modifying the whole region and creating a hybrid culture which is today known as the Patagonian culture. Currently, there have been important social conflicts in Patagonia because of its exclusion of decision making and the imposition of large investment projects. In this context, the fabricated landscape of Patagonia has been naturalised by the Chilean society and today it is presented as "natural", wild and pristine, mobilising poetry, novels, images, and songs in order to protect the environment and to avoid its transformation.

• Kristen Shake - Clark University, USA

  I am a second year Ph.D. student within the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University, working within Dr. Karen Frey's Polar Science Research Lab. I am originally from Anchorage, Alaska and completed my B.S. in Geography and my M.S. in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. For my master's work, I examined ocean acidification and seasonal changes in the aragonite saturation horizon in the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound for the Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC) at UAF. At OARC, I was part of several major international oceanographic research expeditions, including Japan's IPY Bering Sea cruises in 2010 and the NASA ICESCAPE project in 2010 & 2011. Here at Clark, I am building upon my background in marine science and examining Arctic marine policy, with specific interests in science communication, U.S. and Canadian Arctic relations, and offshore resource development policies. I am also currently involved with the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) project, which is an international cruise of opportunity effort to understand long term ecosystem change in response to sea ice loss in the Pacific-Arctic region.

• Sara Strey - University of Illinois, United States

  I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, USA. Upon finishing my PhD I hope to continue in the field of arctic research as a professor. My research interests include interactions between mid-latitude and arctic climate, air-sea interactions, sea ice-atmosphere interactions, climate change, and the scholarship of teaching in learning in higher education science courses at the undergraduate level. I received my M.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois in 2009 on the impacts of the 2007 sea ice minimum on the mid-latitude atmosphere in late autumn and early winter, and my B.S. in Meteorology from Central Michigan University in 2007. Since 2009, I've enjoyed attending several APECS functions and workshops and look forward to increasing my involvement in the future as a chair on the RAC.

• Astrid Surmatz - University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

  Astrid Surmatz is tenured Assistant professor for Scandinavian Studies at UvA; until the end of 2012 she was also visiting professor at Linnaeus University in Växjö (Sweden). She wrote her PhD on translations and cultural transfer. Her current research focuses on Linnaeus and descriptions of Lapland 1650-2000 and on arctic and Antarctic discourse. At the UvA, she is a member of the Institute for Culture and History and of the Teaching commission for Scandinavian studies. She is a member of the Dutch research group in youth literature. At Linnaeus University, she lead a research group, CHILLL. She is affiliated with Linnaeus university as a researcher in the Concurrences Postcolonial research project (LNUC). And she is a member of two research projects in Tromsø and Umeå on travel descriptions and subarctic literature. She is a Board member of the IRSCL, the International Research Society for Children´s Literature. She was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society, London. At UvA, she teaches courses on BA and MA level, including several on postcolonial relations in the arctic and travel description and discovery. In Sweden and Belgium, she co-supervizes PhD students. She researches and lectures internationally about postcolonialism, children´s literature, intermediality and travel literature with a (sub)arctic twist.

• Zuzanna Swirad - Scott Polar Research Institute, UK

  My interest in the polar research started 4 years ago when I was undergraduate Geography student at the University of Wroclaw, Poland. I had an excellent opportunity to spend 2 months at the Polish Polar Station, Hornsund, Svalbard, where I could assist the scientists in their fieldwork. As I spent my last B.Sc. year in Seville, Spain as an Erasmus student, my undergraduate dissertation concerned the geomorphology of Spanish and Portuguese coast (impact of 1755 tsunami wave on coastal morphology). Simultaneously, I did B.A. in Classics and Mediterranean Culture, which was connected to my second huge interest - languages and medieval art. I continued my M.Sc. in Geography in Wroclaw (2011-2013). My Master thesis entitled Lithological and structural controls on the shape of the coastline of NW Hornsund (S Svalbard) brought together my interest in the Arctic and coastal geomorphology. During my M.Sc. studies I served an internship in Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK (2012), where I developed my skills in analysis of the satellite images of polar areas working with Dr W. Gareth Rees. Moreover, I took part in Permafrost and Periglacial Landforms course at the University Centre in Svalbard, Norway (2013). In the academic year 2013-2014 I will be a visiting scholar in Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK. I would like to gain more experience in remote sensing of the High Arctic, before starting my PhD.

• Ines Tavernier - Consortium Marine@UGent, Belgium

  After finishing my Biology (Zoology) studies in 2007, I followed a MSc in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium). In 2008, I then went on to a PhD about Holocene climate and relative sea-level changes in Lützow Holm Bay (East Antarctica). Now I'm working as the coordinator of the UGent Marine Sciences Center of Excellence to strengthen the cooperation between the different marine research groups at Ghent University and also to strengthen cooperation with Flanders Marine Institute. My job includes the establishment of a laboratory in Ostend, the coordination of the Marine Art project (bridging the gap between scientists & artists) and communicating marine science to a wide audience. I have been active within APECS both at the national and international level, as the co-founder of APECS Belgium & APECS BeNeLux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg) and in the Council (2011-2012) and the ExCom (2012-2013).

• Alexandre Trindade Niewendam - University of Lisbon, Portugal

  I'm a PhD student in Physical Geography at the Institute of Geography and Land Management, working on the analysis of relict slope deposits in Serra da Estrela Mountain, Portugal and a researcher at the Centre of Geographical Studies at the University of Lisbon. I have a MS in Physical Geography on the thermal regime of the active layer and permafrost in the Hurd Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica). My research interests focus on geomorphodynamics of polar and mountain environments. I participated in five Antarctic campaigns between 2006 and 2012 with the Bulgarian, Brazilian and North-American Antarctic Expeditions and one in the Arctic in Adventdalen and Sassendalen, Svalbard. I'm one of the co-founders of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the PYRN president (2012-2014).

• Tristy Vick-Majors - Montana State University, United States

  I study microbial ecology, limnology and biogeochemistry in icy, cold environments. I have spent three field seasons in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica sampling permanently ice-covered lakes, and will soon visit the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to study subglacial Lake Whillans, which lies 800 meters beneath the ice. I am fascinated with microbial processes and the ecology of terrestrial aquatic and marine systems. I am constantly looking for new ways to form collaborations and to improve networking opportunities for graduate students and other aspiring scientists. I am currently co-chair of the graduate student group, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at my home institution of Montana State University, and am working on an array of projects that aim to sustain a supportive community for female graduate students. In my spare time, I love to take in the beauty of Montana by hiking and learning to cross-country ski, read, and work on fixing up my tiny house.

• Bianca Zhang - The Arctic Institute, Iceland

  No bio available